Page 59 of Wild Card

“What deal?” My throat goes slick with fear about what’s coming next.

“I would give James Carney certain information, and he’d ensure that I took my father’s place.”

“You framed my parents.”

“No. Not framed. Sorry to tell you, but your parents were laundering money for Papa. He was supposed to go to jail, not Dante. But your father suffered from the same set of ethics you do and took the fall to protect our parents.” He curls his lip in disgust. “Carney didn’t hold up his end of the bargain. He gave me nothing from the bakery sale. If it weren’t for me, Freddie DeBaggis would still be some pathetic lieutenant begging for my father’s scraps, but he has no sense of loyalty either. No sense of gratitude.”

How could I have missed all this? Dear God. Carney used my uncle’s greed against him, but it was still my uncle who sold out our family.

“Does Nonna know?” I ask. I try to keep my voice quiet, as if that will cap the molten anger surging through me and keep me from driving my fist through Lorenzo’s smug fucking face.

“Of course not, you dumbass. But I’m going to get what Carney owes me, and more. I’ll show Freddie that I can get shit done beyond his wildest dreams, and his men will be clamoring to work for me.”

“Renzo, you couldn’t even burn down the fucking bakery right. What makes you think Freddie’s staff will think you’re some kind of criminal mastermind?”

His smile grows. “I took your father out, didn’t I?”

I’d heard the expression ‘seeing red’ before, but I hadn’t experienced it, not like this. Red hot flames cloud my vision and drown out my surroundings, surging through me like the fire in my bakery, vaporizing any remaining feeling I had for Lorenzo. I get to my feet and hover over my uncle. “Let’s settle this, Lorenzo. Outside.”

“You’re all bark and no bite, kid. I’m going to get your girlfriend and her sister to Freddie and there’s not a Goddamn thing you can do about it, same as with your parents. I’m not going anywhere with you.” His smile turns cold and hollow as he thrusts his chin at the door I came through. One of Freddie’s men stands outside, staring at us, his hand in his pocket, probably wrapped around a gun.

“Asked one of the boys to keep an eye on me. You make a move and you’ll finally get that reunion with your parents that you want so badly.”

I want to destroy him with my bare hands. Crush every bone in his body. Make him pay for his betrayals and all the suffering he’s inflicted. That he’s still inflicting. The fact that I can’t do what I came here to do compounds my animosity toward him. I’ll have to enact my plan in a different order than I wanted, but this isn’t over. Not by a longshot.

“We’ll see about that,” I snarl, leaving the store, and my uncle behind me.

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